Water Restrictions Extended In Tampa Bay Area: SWFL Water District

TAMPA BAY, FL — The one-day-per-week watering restrictions for the greater Tampa Bay area have been extended through July 1.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District governing board voted Tuesday to extend the restrictions in Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties, the agency said in a news release.

This extension mirrors the existing water shortageorder currently in effect for Citrus, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Manatee, Polk, Sarasota and Sumter counties; portions of Charlotte, Highlands and Lake counties; the city of Dunnellon and The Villages in Marion County; and the portion of Gasparilla Island in Lee County.

Though the district saw above-average rainfall during the winter months, from November to January, there is still a 12-month rainfall deficit of about 7.4 inches, SWFMD said.

While there have been some short-term improvements with rainfall, most of the Tampa Bay area continues to experience drier-than-normal conditions.

Tampa Bay Water's (TBW) 15.5-billion-gallon C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir is still approximately 8.5 billion gallons below its normal capacity.

The district also approved a request today from TBW to temporarily increase its permitted withdrawals from the Alafia River from 10 percent to 19 percent above the baseline flow to store additional water in the reservoir for its use in the coming spring dry season.

This water shortage order doesn’t change allowable watering schedules for most counties, however, it does prohibit “wasteful and unnecessary” water use, the agency said.

Twice-per-week lawn watering schedules remain in effect except where stricter measures have been imposed by local governments.

Residents are asked to check their irrigation systems to ensure they are working properly. This means testing and repairing broken pipes and leaks and fixing damaged or tilted sprinkler heads. Residents should also check their irrigation timer to ensure the settings are correct and the rain sensor is working properly.

Once-per-week lawn watering days and times are as follows unless your city or county has a different schedule or stricter hours in effect. Citrus, Hernando and Sarasota counties, and the cities of Dunedin and Venice, have local ordinances that remain on one-day-per-week schedules.

• 0 or 1 should water only on Monday;
• 2 or 3 should water only on Tuesday;
• 4 or 5 should water only on Wednesday;
• 6 or 7 should water only on Thursday;
• 8 or 9 should water only on Friday.

Unless a city or county already has stricter hours in effect, properties that are less than 2 acres may only water before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m. Meanwhile, properties that are 2 acres or larger may only water before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m.

Low-volume watering of plants and shrubs — using micro-irrigation, soaker hoses or hand watering — is allowed any day or time.